Driving with Suspended License in New Jersey, Valid License in Pennsylvania

[padriver02]

My question involves a driver's license issued by the State of: NJ

I was driving home from NJ when pulled over for license plate lights being off. The officer after checking my PA license and registration said that i had a suspended license in NJ and gave me a ticket for lamp maintenance and a ticket for driving with suspended license.

my NJ license was suspended because of a parking ticket issued by Newark that is not mine in 2001. i was never even in Newark and have proof that i was at work all day that day the parking ticket was issued. I tried calling but never got an answer so wrote two separate letters on two different occasions but never got any response. by the time the NJDMV notified me of license suspension i had already moved to PA and surrendered my license to PADMV so i didn't think much of it.

Now, the question is i'm required to go to court in NJ because of this ticket. What must I do to clear this up and what are my chances that I won't be penalized for something that was out of my control....ie, ticket not mine and i couldn't get a hold of anyone to clear myself, no one cared, not DMV, not court. Thank you for any thoughts.

[M'sta Mikey]

The NJ ticket would have had a court appearance date on it. You should have appeared to state your case. Since you didn't, a judgment was entered against you. You didn't show or pay and your license was then suspended. Not getting in "touch with anyone" is no excuse as far as the court is concerned. You had two choices; pay the fine or contest (in court) the ticket.

Also, this was completely under your control so that defense won't hold water. I would suggest consulting an attorney prior to the hearing and see what his/her advice is.

[padriver02]

The NJ ticket would have had a court appearance date on it. You should have appeared to state your case. Since you didn't, a judgment was entered against you. You didn't show or pay and your license was then suspended. Not getting in "touch with anyone" is no excuse as far as the court is concerned. You had two choices; pay the fine or contest (in court) the ticket.

Also, this was completely under your control so that defense won't hold water. I would suggest consulting an attorney prior to the hearing and see what his/her advice is.

Thanks for your response. However, there was actually no parking ticket. never received one. Just received notices from the court to pay the parking ticket which i never received. (Because I was never there) The notice threatened license suspension if i did not pay. That was when I wrote the letters responding to each notice to pay the parking fine. No one responded to my letters pleading my innocence nor requested that I go to court to plead my case, just could not get in touch with anyone. The notice of license suspension came from NJDMV and by that time, i had already moved to PA.

The new ticket i just received as part of the license plate lamp pull over has a court appearance date. Of course i am going to be appearing in court to plead my case now, except i'm not sure if they can do anything about another court's (Newark) parking ticket.

[lwpat]

Your license is suspended in NJ. You cannot legally drive in NJ until you get it taken care of. You were noticed and decided to ignore it. Do you have any proof you sent any letters? Not being able to "get in touch" is no defense. The fact you have a valid PA license is no defense. Get it straightend out before you go to court.

[padriver02]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to consult some attorneys and start writing certified letters to try and get this cleared up. Most likely going to have to start knocking on the doors of politicians to assist as I haven't been able to get through to the Newark court system and they're the only one right now that can clear this erroneous parking ticket mess up.

[padriver02]

quick update. this may be an encouragement to someone, as there may be justice after all, you just need to make a big effort even if you never should be in this place in the first place.

anyways, wrote certified letters to many people and the court system. Newark court system realized it was a erroneous parking ticket, dropped the ticket and undid the license suspension. Now just have to go to court to explain that the license suspension has been lifted because it was erroneous in the first place, hoping voice of reason will prevail there also and the driving with suspended license charge will go away also.

Best luck to all.